Sticky Toffee Cinnamon Rolls

Delicious sticky toffee cinnamon rolls with a dark brown sugar centre, soft pillowy homemade dough, and a sticky toffee sauce glaze

These gooey, sticky and heavenly sticky toffee cinnamon rolls are just a word above the regular ones – the sticky toffee sauce is the ideal glaze to make a gorgeous sweet flavour, married with the brown sugar cinnamon centre. 

Bread recipes

I adore bread. Bread is one of my favourite things on the planet. I know that seems a silly thing to say as it almost seems obvious, but baking bread is an extremely therapeutic thing for me, and I find the process quite soothing and satisfying, despite it naturally taking quite a while in comparison to other things that you can bake. 

Bread, whether sweet or savoury, in my opinion is always better when it’s homemade, or made with as few ingredients as possible – a basic bread can be four or five ingredients, and then you start to add in additional ingredients depending on the style of bread, such as these sweetened bread rolls. 

My focaccia is one of my favourite ‘savoury’ breads that I have ever written, partly because it is my favourite to eat – but that is my own bias. You can make delicious no-knead recipes such as a soda bread, or a simple granary loaf is also incredibly easy to bake. 

Cinnamon rolls

When it comes to cinnamon rolls, I already have a tried-and-true recipe for a classic batch of 12 on my blog. It’s one I absolutely love and have made countless times. The dough is soft and airy, swirled with a rich brown sugar and cinnamon filling, and topped with a simple icing drizzle, pure comfort in every bite.

Sweetened dough bakes are my favorite kind to make. I find the process of making the dough really calming, and of course, I love eating anything in this category. I’ve always had a soft spot for bread and it loves me right back! Another favourite of mine is my white chocolate raspberry rolls, and this new sticky toffee cinnamon roll recipe is another new favourite for sure. 

I decided to make this batch a classic 12 as I usually traditionally make my batches, but you can use my small batch cinnamon roll recipe as inspiration instead if you wish, to make a smaller quantity. 

The bread dough

The bread dough’s will always be relatively similar when it comes to my recipes, as I always say how if something works, I will use it. This recipe differs slightly with a slightly different sugar/flavour to the dough, filling and topping – but the premise is the same. 

• Flour – I do prefer to use strong white bread flour for this – it’s a natural bread for most of my bread recipes
• Yeast – I use a dried active yeast, so I just add it into the mix as per the recipe. Make sure to check if your yeast needs activating first, as if it does you need to add it to the warmed milk before using in the recipe
• Sugar – a little brown sugar to feed the yeast and help the dough grow – I use brown sugar this time because of the sticky toffee theme
• Butter – I use unsalted block butter, but you can use salted block butter as well – just skip any extra salt if you do
• Milk – I use dairy based milk, and I prefer and recommend full-fat for best results. You can use dairy free milk such as soya, or almond
• Vanilla – I love the little dash of vanilla, but this is optional.  

Making the rolls

When making a bread dough like this, there are a few key tips to follow to ensure your cinnamon rolls turn out their best, whether you’re making a small batch or a full one. I always begin by combining the flour, yeast, sugar, and butter in a bowl, then rubbing them together with my fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. It’s really important to use real butter here, not margarine, for the best flavor and texture.

Once you’ve got that breadcrumb-like mixture, you can add the warmed milk and vanilla. The warm milk helps activate the yeast and gets the dough going nicely. I usually make this small batch by hand, but you’re welcome to use a mixer if you prefer. I pour the milk and vanilla into the dry ingredients and give it a quick stir with a spatula (it’ll be very sticky at first) then I finish bringing it together with my hands.

After that, you’ll need to knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes. The goal is to get it soft and pillowy, which gives the rolls their light, fluffy texture. Once kneaded, cover the dough and let it rise in a warm spot for a couple of hours. After that, it’s time to make the filling. 

The filling

Once your dough is made and rising, you can move on to the filling. It’s super simple, just melted butter, mixed with dark brown soft sugar and a little cinnamon. It only takes a couple of minutes to put together, since all you really need to do is melt the butter. Honestly, I usually wait until I’ve rolled out the dough before making the filling.

When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a rectangle, trying to keep the shape as even as possible. Then, brush the entire surface with the melted butter, and sprinkle the dark brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on top, gently pressing it into the dough. I then often sprinkle over some chopped up medjool dates for extra ‘sticky toffee’ but these are optional and I didn’t choose to do this on the occasion of filming/photographing. 

Next, roll the dough up tightly, starting from one of the longer edges. Once rolled, cut it into 12 pieces and place them in a baking dish. I make sure to spread the rolls out evenly with room around the edges of each piece so that the dough has space to grow. Alternatively, you can cut the dough, once in a rectangle, into strips, and gently roll up each piece to make sure that they are even. 

Baking the rolls

When it comes to baking a recipe like this, it relies a bit on you knowing your oven. For example, to keep the pillow like softness of the dough, you don’t want the oven to be accidentally too high, but also high enough to still bake the dough throughout the dish. Too high an oven will probably brown the dough too quickly as well. 

I bake my rolls at 160ºc fan, for 25-30 minutes. Typically, mine take 26 minutes in the same oven each time. I love the rolls warm out of the oven, but I like to let the rolls cool slightly first as they would be far too hot to eat, but the sauce being poured over them makes them gooey, sticky and delightful. 

The sauce

There are a couple of key guidelines when making your own sticky toffee sauce… but don’t worry, they’re easy to follow. First, always use double cream instead of single cream as you need the fat content, and real block butter rather than margarine. These two choices really make a difference in getting the sauce just right.

When it comes to sweeteners, I usually switch between golden syrup and black treacle based on what I’ve got in the cupboard. I’m not going to open a new tin of treacle just for one tablespoon. Golden syrup gives the sauce a lighter taste and colour, while black treacle results in a richer, deeper flavour – for this occasion, I used golden syrup. The same goes for the sugar. You can use either dark brown soft sugar or light brown soft sugar. Dark brown gives you that classic, molasses-rich toffee flavour, while the light brown offers a milder, lighter taste which is great if that’s what you’re going for.

To make the sauce, just pop everything in a pan, let the sugar dissolve and the butter melt, then bring it to a boil for a minute. The black treacle and dark brown soft sugar will give a darker coloured sauce, the light brown soft sugar and golden syrup gives a naturally lighter colour sauce. 

The sauce, once made, is destined to be poured over the baked rolls, when they’re out of the oven – the best way to serve these delicious gorgeous sticky toffee cinnamon rolls. 

Tips & tricks 

• These are best on the day of baking as they stay soft and fluffy, but can be kept for a couple of days (and refreshed in the microwave) 
• These can be prepped up until baking the night before and place into the fridge overnight. Bring back to room temp for 45-60 minutes, and then bake in the morning
• These can be frozen for 3+ months
• If you want to make a regular batch, look at my homemade cinnamon roll recipe instead 
• For other sticky toffee recipes, browse here

Sticky Toffee Cinnamon Rolls!

Delicious sticky toffee cinnamon rolls with a dark brown sugar centre, soft pillowy homemade dough, and a sticky toffee sauce glaze

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Category: Bread

Type: Cinnamon Rolls

Keyword: Sticky Toffee

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Proving/Shaping Time: 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 Rolls

Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

The Dough

• 600 g strong white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
• 14 g dried active yeast
• 75 g dark brown soft sugar (or light brown)
• 90 g unsalted butter (cold and cubed)
• 275 ml full fat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 medium/large egg

The Filling

• 50 g unsalted butter (melted)
• 175 g dark brown soft sugar (or light brown)
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 200 g medjool dates (or other dates)(chopped)(optional)

The Sauce

• 150 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp golden syrup (or black treacle)
• 75 g dark brown soft sugar
• 50 g unsalted butter

Grams - Ounces

Instructions

• Add the flour into a large bowl, and add the sugar and yeast. Mix these together so its all evenly distributed.
• Add the cold and cubed butter, and rub the butter into the mixture so it resembles bread crumbs.
• Gently heat the milk until warm - but not piping hot. If heating in a pan, you want it to just about start having steam come out of the pan. 
• Add the milk, vanilla, and egg to the dry ingredients. 
• Knead the dough together for 7-10 minutes. It will be sticky at first, but it will soon come together. I use my stand mixer with the dough hook to make this easier. 
• Once kneaded, it will be springy to touch, and not sticky. 
• Transfer into a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the top of the bowl with cling film. Let it rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size. 
• Whilst the bread is proving, whisk together the dark brown sugar, and ground cinnamon for the filling. Leave to the side for now. 
• Once the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and roll out to a large rectangle. Mine ends up being about 50cmx30cm. 
• You want it to be as even a rectangle as possible so its easier to roll up, and the dough can be thin here. 
• Gently brush the surface with the melted butter, and then sprinkle over the sugar/cinnamon mix. Then, sprinkle over the chopped dates if using.
• Roll the dough from long side to long side, so that a ~long sausage~ is formed. Cut this evenly into 12 pieces. I cut the middle, and then the two halves into two more, and then each into three pieces to get my 12. 
• Or, whilst still rolled out into the rectangle shape, use a pizza cutter or large knife to cut 12 strips, and roll up afterwards.
• Using a large rectangular baking dish, mine was 30cmx24cm roughly, put them in.
• Cover the dish with clingfilm, and let them rise for another hour or so. By the end, they should all touch. 
• Towards the end of the dough rising, preheat the oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan so that when it's finished rising, you can put it straight in the oven.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. 
• Whilst they are baking, add the cream, syrup, sugar and butter to a pan. Melt the mixture on a low heat to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter
• Boil the sauce for 1 minute, and then leave to the side until the rolls are baked. Once baked, pour the sauce over the top of the rolls and let them cool slightly.
• Enjoy by breaking apart and eating all the gooey sticky toffee cinnamon goodness. 

Notes

• These are best on the day of baking as they stay soft and fluffy, but can be kept for a couple of days (and refreshed in the microwave) 
• These can be prepped up until baking the night before and place into the fridge overnight. Bring back to room temp for 45-60 minutes, and then bake in the morning
• These can be frozen for 3+ months
• If you want to make a regular batch, look at my homemade cinnamon roll recipe instead 
• For other sticky toffee recipes, browse here

Enjoy!

Find my other recipes on my recipes page!

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© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.